Business center to include loans, entrepreneur help

BRADLEY J. FIKES - Staff Writer

SAN MARCOS —— The new business center being created by the San
Diego North Economic Development Council is already bringing help
to North County businesses, although it hasn't yet found a home or
been officially launched.

Accion San Diego, a "microloan" lender to low-income business
owners, placed a loan manager in the council's San Marcos office a
month ago. Accion San Diego is part of an expanding network of
services the economic development council is pulling together for
the center. It has been named the Center for Entrepreneurism, said
Gary Knight, the council's chief executive

Besides Accion, the Oceanside-based Faith-Based Community
Development Corp. is also taking part in the center's
development.

"The list of partners keeps getting bigger and bigger," Knight
said. The council and Cal State San Marcos are the business
center's main sponsors.

Knight said the center is probably going to provide many kinds
of services focused on the needs of entrepreneurs, which include
not only developing business ideas and getting financing, but also
navigating the bureaucracies in city governments and the legal
system.

The center's physical location has yet to be determined. The
university has been expected to give the center office space, but
that is not certain, said Dennis Guseman, dean of CSUSM's College
of Business Administration. The university is also considering
offering space to the San Diego North EDC, said Guseman, who writes
a business column for the North County Times.

The center was originally supposed to emphasize creativity in
business, but its role has been expanded in response to community
feedback, Guseman said.

"It's evolving," Guseman said. "It's changing as we get more
people involved and get a clearer understanding of the needs of the
business community."

Accion San Diego provides small business loans from $300 to
$35,000, said Veronica Villasenor, the agency's North County loan
manager. The lender's goal is to help small businesses get the
money they need to become larger, Villasenor said.

The lender had already been active in North County and was
considering establishing a physical presence here when contacted by
the council, she added. Accion San Diego's Web page is at
www.accionsandiego.org. Villasenor can be reached at (760)
420-8745.